The Epirote — Restaurant in Municipality of Markopoulo Mesogaias

Disappointed again. I have tried to give this restaurant another try! I visit when am in Porto Rafti. On the occasions that I have lunched there, I and my guests were disappointed. Today for instance 1/6 a late lunch at 4.00pm the service was appalling. It took some time for us to be seated. There were available tables but they were piled high with the previous diners debris! We were eventually sat at a table where the sun would have been swirling round in no time. A sun friendly table was available but it had mountains of dirty crockery. We asked to be sat at that table because the table we were given was in the sun. Eventually we were and had to move our glasses, plates and bread basket to the new table. Our order was taken but the person taking the order was pre occupied, talking to waiters whilst taking our order. For a fish restaurant they had run out of the most popular fish, mullet, sardines, whitebait. For a fish restaurant that would be open in the evening too fish choice was limited. We chose calamari amongst the other salad dishes. Also we chose the orzo with prawns. The food arrived in dribs and drabs, one plate at a time. On one occasion a dish intended for our table was en route to another and we had to intercept the waiter. The prawn orzo dish unfortunately found its way to a neighbouring table that arrived after us! The waiters were distracted and over tired. Some were seemingly just wondering around without purpose! We chased up the prawn orzo and were served with a seafood orzo with two prawns for a group of four people. The dish was sent back. We were actually quite ready to leave by then. The bill was requested and what was interesting to watch was how complimentary deserts were given to other tables and ours was omitted. Eventually someone came over and asked us what we had eaten and gave us a verbal bill which was settled in cash including a gratuity. On our way out a paper bill was chucked on the table. Will I...

Absolutely loved this place, everything was spot on!

We visited The Epirote in Porto Rafti around 6pm and had such a fantastic evening. It’s right by the beach, which gives it an amazing relaxed vibe, and from the moment we arrived, we felt really well looked after.

The service was genuinely exceptional. Super quick, but also really warm and friendly. Everyone made us feel welcome straight away, and we even got chatting with the staff about the name of the taverna and where they’re from. Turns out the whole family is from Preveza in Epirus, so we had a lovely conversation about the region and some shared links. You could really feel the pride and hospitality coming through.

The food was absolutely delicious. Between the three of us, we ordered loads, (salad, squid, octopus, fish, saganaki, drinks), the works. Everything was fresh and cooked beautifully. The bill came to around €100 which we thought was brilliant value considering how much we had and the quality of the seafood.

By the time we left around 9.30pm, we figured parking might be harder to find, so if you’re planning a visit, try to get there a little earlier if you can. That said, it’s 100% worth it.

Honestly, we’ll definitely be going back. It’s the kind of place you immediately want to return to — amazing food, lovely people, great atmosphere....

It was almost 22:30 and we realized that we needed to grab some dinner, so all we had to do was walk out the front door and get a table across the street. Who knew that we be the hard part? They found us space when we told them we live across the street and we were there for dinner. We started with the typical bottle of Ouzo while we considered the menu. We selected steamed mussels, grilled octopus, a fava bean humas and a whole grouper.

The muscles came out first and the one thing I’m a stickler for is to make sure the shells are all open and they were. They were cooked perfectly and the flavor was wonderful. They brought out the humas and octopus together which was fine with us. The humas was topped with chopped red onions and drizzled with olive oil. My dinner partner thoroughly enjoyed it, I can’t comment being that it’s not a dish I’m fond of. As far as the octopus the less said the better, it was inedible period.

Shortly thereafter they brought us out the whole grouper and it was wonderful it more than made up for the octopus, it was delicate and perfectly cooked and seasoned. Knowing this taverna is downstairs we be crazy not to go back sans the octopus.

We did go back 3 nights later and it...